Wednesday, September 25, 2013

This weeks tomato spotlight is on "Russian Rose". This Russian heirloom tomato variety is aptly named as it bears tomatoes as
pretty as a rose. A good producer of 12 oz., deliciously sweet pink tomatoes. Russian Rose is an indeterminate plant that matures in 78 days. They are meaty and flavorful. The plant I grew was very prolific and produced pretty large tomatoes. The one tomato weighed in at 1lb. This tomato made an excellent tomato sandwich! I will definitely be growing this variety again.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Tomato Tuesday post. Come back next week to see which tomato variety I will be spotlighting from my garden. Happy gardening!

Monday, September 16, 2013

It's time to start seed trading! This is my first year saving my own seeds and I started by saving tomato seeds. I grew many varieties this year, but not all were a success. I have 19 varieties that I will be able to trade with other gardeners. I do not bag my flowers therefore they are naturally pollinated by nature. There are no guarantees as far as purity. I look forward to seed trading with other gardeners and hope I have varieties that interest you!

Spudakee

Russian Rose

Wapsipinicon Peach

Blondkopfchen

Black Zebra

Jaune Flamme

Coure di Bue

Virginia Sweets

Moonglow

Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye

White Beauty

Orange Russian

German Pepper

Monomakh's Hat

Porter

Maglia Rosa

Bloody Butcher

Blush

Green Zebra

If you are interested in trading seeds with me, you can message me on my blog or email me at tlgrady77@gmail.com. I don't have large quantities of seeds, so first come first serve. Thanks for checking out my post and hopefully I will be trading soon!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

This weeks Tomato Tuesday spotlight is on "Virginia Sweets". What a beauty this tomato is! I purchased this tomato plant from a local nursery in the hopes that I would like it and then save seeds from it. Well I love it and I also saved seeds from it. Virginia Sweets is a bicolored beefsteak heirloom from Virginia. The plant produces good yields of 1 lb golden yellow beefsteak tomatoes with red stripes that turn into a ruby blush on top. The tomato has a sweet rich tomato flavor. One of the best tasting and best producing gold-red bicolor tomatoes. Excellent for salads and sandwiches. This tomato variety is indeterminate and matures in 80 days from transplant. My plant was slow going at first, but the last two weeks it has really been producing nice tomatoes. It reminds me of Mr. Stripey tomato, which I grew last year. They are fairly blemish free, except for some cracking at the stem end. I have noticed that the longer I let them ripen they get more red coloring.

Monday, September 9, 2013

I have been doing a lot of clean up down at my community garden plots. This past weekend I harvested all my pumpkins and winter squash. I also cleared out the garden bed where I was growing my zucchini/summer squash and I harvested some giants. I plan on stuffing them for dinner one night this week. My tomato plants at home are really producing and I am swamped with tomatoes again. I made some tomato sauce with some of the tomatoes. I checked on my popcorn I am growing to see if it is ready to harvest, but it needs some more time to dry. Here are some harvest pictures from the past week.

Tomato Sauce

The three in the back are Kakai Hulless and the two in the front

are Galeux D’Eysines Pumpkin and Speckled Pup.

Sweet Dumpling and Speckled Pup

Winter squash and over grown summer squash.

Thanks for checking out my Harvest Monday post. If you would like to see other Harvest Monday posts go to Daphne's Dandelions. Happy Gardening!!!!﻿

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

This weeks Tomato Tuesday spotlight is on "Black Zebra". A natural
and stabilized cross between Green Zebra and a black tomato by Jeff Dawson. This tomato produces vigorous,
indeterminate, regular-leaf tomato plants that produce 4 oz., 1 1/2", juicy,
round tomatoes with purple/mahogany-colored skin with green stripes (like brush
strokes). Its flavor also carries the rich
complexity associated with the best of black tomatoes. This tomato variety matures within 75 days after transplanting. This is my first year growing this variety and I will definitely be growing it again next year. I love black tomatoes and this is a new favorite for me.
It is not only deliscious, but beautiful to look at.

Black Zebra﻿

Thank you for checking out this weeks Tomato Tuesday and I hope you return next Tuesday to see which tomato variety I will be spotlighting from my garden.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Last Wednesday I attended Snyder Farm's Open House and Great Tomato Tasting in Pittstown, NJ. This is a 390 acre research farm run by Rutgers, in which they perform various agricultural and environmental studies. The event includes the poplar tomato tasting of 60+ heirloom and hybrid tomatoes. Other highlights include tasting of apples and peaches along with varieties of basil and honey. They also have various teaching gardens on display which demonstrate gardens of deer tolerant ornamentals; blueberries, hazelnuts, and hollies from Rutgers breeding programs; examples of proper tomato plant culture; and a wall of fruit trees for the home landscape. They also had wagon tours of the farm's research plots, chef demonstrations, Jersey Fresh Salsa tastings and educational displays from various organizations.

The Great Tomato Tasting

They had over 60 heirloom and hybrid tomatoes to taste. I was in tomato heaven!

Jersey Tomato Peach Salsa

Wagon Tours of Research Plots

This research plot is a research project where they are tracking Cucurbit Downy Mildew movement. In the distance is another research plot that they are researching the "Rutgers" tomato. Over the years Rutgers tomato has lost it's great flavor and the research farm was able to get original seeds from a seed bank and are now trying to bring back the old great tasting Rutgers tomato.

These are tented basil plants that they are protecting from cross pollination.

My Favorite Garden Sites

About Me

I have been gardening for 5 years. I have two garden plots at a community garden in Pennsylvania. My passion is tomato gardening. I love trying new varieties every year. I enjoy learning from other gardeners and sharing my gardening experiences and knowledge.